1 Yuan (Pattern; proposed "Junk dollar"; American strike)

The 1929 Junk Dollar pattern was commissioned by the Nationalist government of the Republic of China as part of an effort to unify the country's fragmented currency system. Seeking to modernize their coinage, officials engaged the Philadelphia Mint in the United States to produce sample strikes that could serve as a template for a standardized national currency. This initiative reflected the desire of the new government to stabilize the economy and project authority through a consistent, high-quality metallic medium.

The design, featuring a traditional Chinese junk ship on the obverse and the portrait of Sun Yat-sen on the reverse, was intended to blend republican nationalism with familiar cultural iconography. While the Philadelphia Mint successfully created these high-relief pattern strikes, the design was ultimately revised and simplified for mass production in domestic Chinese mints. Consequently, these American-struck patterns remain significant as historical artifacts of the collaborative transition toward a unified Chinese fiscal identity.